The Guide
by nightvision 9
Summary: Correl was a young boy in the Community. He was struggling along with his friends. He was different. But his Ceremony of Age finally comes. But Fate, and a creature known only as The Guide, have plans for him outside the Community. Ch. 2 now up!
1. Prologue & Chapter 1

**The Guide**

**Prologue:**

In the Community, there are many Assignments for Twelves, which will determine their life. The Elders of the Community observe the young while they do their Community Services, or Service Hours, Community Hours, Community Service Hours, or Services, either helping in the House of the Old, or assisting in the Nurturing Center. Community Services are Assigned to all children that are either an Eleven or younger. The children of the Community do these Community Services to show the Elders what their interests are, and then in the Ceremony of Twelve, it would be easier for the Elders to select an Assignment for the future of Twelves. After the Ceremony of Twelve, the new Twelves begin their training for their future in the Community, but in all of the history of the Community, one simple rule changed one certain young Twelve's life, named Correl, forever: "There is no war." But all of that is about to change…

**Chapter 1**

"Correl! Wake up this instant, Correl!"

As Correl's mother continued to yell at him, the alarm on his bedside next to his bed beeped wildly. Correl woke up with a start. He laid on his bed for awhile, thinking of yesterday's events, as most people do when they awake. _Nothing special_, he thought. _Just regular stuff in the Community, school, Service Hours, preparing for the Ceremony of Age…_He thought about this last remark. He jumped, excited. _The Ceremony of Age! Today!_ Today was the big day. **_His _**big day. The day when he turned Twelve, but more importantly, when he received his Assignment for life. He wondered what Assignment he would receive. Then he thought of his specialties. _Well, I enjoy assisting in the Community Tool Shed, and I help around the Blacksmith's Den._

But then he wondered. _Could the Elders possibly know of my woodworking at night?_ Ever since he was a little Seven, Correl would chop some wood in secret and bring it in his house. Then, after dinner and the Ceremony of Sharing Feelings, he would quickly finish his homework from school, grab a flashlight and some tools, and carve strange objects. He did not mean to, but he would carve objects not even his parents knew or heard of. And then he would think up strange names for them. _Cat_ he would think, or maybe _Sword_. He didn't mean to. He just **_did_**.

"Correl, I'm not going to repeat myself! Get up, get changed, brush your teeth, comb your hair, eat your breakfast, and get on your bike, **NOW**!" his mother yelled. Correl did as he was told, eager of his future.

But what he didn't know was that his future, would determine the course of everyone else's future…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Correl made a mistake when he was recapping on yesterday's events today on his bed. He **_did_** do something special last night. He just couldn't remember it, at all. Last night, when only the Night Patrollers of the Community on duty were up, he awoke. Not necessarily woke up. He was…in a trance of a sort. His eyes were open, but with no pupil. It was only the white of the eye. Blank. When he got out of bed, he seemed a little rigid, almost mechanical. He went through the back door of his house and picked up his tree-chopping ax. He went to the center of the Community, where an old oak tree lay rooted. He lifted, or picked up, his ax. He began to chop, rather noisily, too.

"Hey! You! Stop right where you are!"

It was Joshua. A male. Another Eleven. It was Correl's best friend. If Correl was…_awake_, per say, he would have remembered that Joshua did Community Service Hours at night, as a Community Night Patroller. Even though it was an actual Assignment, it was also good for Community Service Hours.

"Correl? Is that you? What are you doing with that ax at this hour of the night?" Joshua questioned, as he lit Correl's face with his flashlight.

"HELLO JOSHUA. IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU. I WAS MERELY GETTING WOOD FOR MY FAMILY UNIT. PLEASE SHINE YOUR FLASHLIGHT AWAY FROM MY FACE." replied Correl.

_This isn't Correl's voice,_ thought Joshua, _Correl's voice is softer, more alive. This voice is lower, guttural, mechanical._ If Joshua, or anyone in the Community, knew what it was, he would have used the adjective _animal_ in his thoughts. But there are no animals in the Community.

Then Joshua noticed it, in Correl's eyes. The blankness…the emptiness…the _loneliness_.

"PLEASE SHINE YOUR FLASHLIGHT AWAY FROM MY FACE." Correl said again to a now horrified Joshua.

Joshua then turned, not only his flashlight but himself as well, and ran into the darkness, merely a speck in the horizon, with a light in his hand.

And Correl didn't remember a thing.


End file.
